A Certain Terrific League of Gentlefolk
by CkretAznMan
Summary: World War 3. A time of great change and an age of stagnation, a period of chaste order and ignoble chaos. It's an era in need of champions. Recruited by the enigmatic Aleister Crowley, they must face nefarious villains. A tribute to Moore and O'Neill.
1. Prologue: A New Leading Man

A/N: This is perhaps my actual first fanfiction that tries to be canon with any story at all. And if anybody has any ideas or observations, I would gladly listen to them. Also, if you didn't figure it out yet: This fic's going to have lots and lots of homages to different stories.

By the way... Disclaimer: Everything is owned by Colin Powell... or Warren Buffet

* * *

**A New Leading Man**

**"About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment."**

**- Josh Billings****_, US Humorist (1818 - 1885)_**

Darkness. There are no doors, no windows, and no connection to the outer world. A room that would be full of darkness were it not for the illumination of computers and devices on the walls. The floors consisted of glass plating upon what would look like a gigantic motherboard. The ceiling was full of pipes and wires that lead to a single point in the room. A large glass pillar was in the middle of this dark place. In it, there was a yellow liquid, filled to the ceiling, which was the brightest of all the items in the room, though the room still was very dim. But what else was inside this pillar?

There was a young man in a green dress with long white hair that reached to his shoulder blades. What was astonishing was that this was a live man, breathing in the liquid, and his body being held upside down. The man smiles quietly to himself as he seemingly sleeps.

"The war in Russia will cause an imbalance amongst the scientific and magical communities," said a laid back voice of a teenager. He slowly walks towards the pillar as the steps made lonesome echoes around the room. The light was able to show the physical features of the man. He had spiky, blond hair and wore an aloha shirt with blue jeans. The peculiar thing was that he wore sunglasses even though it was so dark. "And to decrease the amount of casualties any further you must stop this, Aleister Crowley."

Aleister Crowley opens his eyes, still smiling, "Well then, it seems that the Misaka Worst unit have failed in its mission. The Imagine Breaker is also currently off on its own deeds. Well, why don't we form a new unit? One unit that does not abide to any law, but will be loyal to its city. What do you think, Tsuchimikado?"

"You don't really understand what I'm saying. Just increasing the amount of forces won't do anybody any good. World War III itself has to be stopped," the blond teen stated seriously, "or is it just to further your damn plans? If so, then I can't let this happen."

"Quite frankly, I've already executed this plan. The leader is being summoned now," remarked Crowley.

"What?!" exclaimed Tsuchimikado. Then a certain sound disturbed their conversation. It was the sound of teleportation.

Two people are seen in the dim light. One was a sophomore that was wearing the school uniform for Kirigaoka Academy for Girls. The other was a young man around Tsuchimkado's age. He wore a long coat that covered his entire body. He had short black hair that looked like it was combed by a pillow with slanted eyes and a round nose. The boy whispered some words into the girl's ear and they both smile. He then noticed the other two and bowed.

"Hello, my name is Kelvin Lei, and I am the second weakest level 5 in the city."

* * *

A/N: This is a story with a few new characters and returning old ones. This would probably be after volume 20 of the series. I'll try my best to make it as canon as possible, but it's going to be very difficult. So if you have time, fill me in on what's happened in the series. I only know as far as the anime goes... So yeah.


	2. The Problem with Being a Level 5

A/N: So basically here's where I actually started my planning for this story... Right now all that you don't know is probably because of bad writing or it being kept secret.

By the way... Disclaimer:

We don't own anything here~,

Please don't sue us, we don't have any ca~aaaa~sh,

We're just Fa~aaa~ans,

We have no l~i~v~e~s~....

So please support the,

Official release,

of To Aru Majutsu no Inde~x,

Buy DVDs, or watch on TV, Don't watch free or illegally~

(...Actually, do that last part)

* * *

**The Problem with Being a Level 5**

**"Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter because nobody listens."**

**- Nick Diamos**

"Wait, so I'm being called by the big man himself? Alright, now is the perfect time to assassinate him!" Kelvin skipped around a girl with long red hair laughably because his trench coat kept hitting his shins. They were talking in the night around a random lamp post on a random sidewalk.

"No, you won't, Kelvin. He wants to talk to you about something and I guarantee you that it's not about his death," said the girl. She wore a pink crop top and a pleated skirt. She had long, dark orange hair tied into a pair of ponytails. The distinguishing features were a white belt around her skirt which had a military flashlight strapped on it and a black coat over her shoulders that kind of looks like a cape on her.

"Oh really," Kelvin commented sarcastically, "I didn't know that at all… Well, fine then. Since he is Awaki's employer, I'll let him go for this time. I can't exactly let you get out of such an important job right now. On that note, can't you put on your uniform, it must be freakin' freezing out here."

"I'd really hate it if you killed any of my affiliates, especially if they are the leader of the science faction of the two sides. Also no, I won't. I like actually getting the feeling of the wind and it makes me look a little more badass," deadpanned Awaki, "And you're probably only saying that so then I wouldn't know that you're just getting turned on by me."

Kelvin sighed, "I really don't understand you guys at all. I mean you're badass enough to be a 'potential' level 5, that's got to mean something. Meanwhile my title as 'Second Weakest Level 5' isn't really that cool; there are too many syllables." The last remark earned him a fist to the face.

"You deserved that."

"Ow, fine geez. Okay how about this, I don't make any intent to kill him for now and you put on your uniform so then I won't get 'turned on' by your lame physique." That got him a kick to the face. "Wait! Stop! No more! Why don't we just go to Mister Crowley's place?"

Musujime Awaki grabbed Kelvin by the collar and said, "Could you please not cause any trouble while were there? I mean there's no need for violence and I don't want to see a friend get hurt,"

"Ooh, you actually consider me as a friend. That's nice."

She let go of Kelvin's collar and looks away for a moment, "You can also consider this as payback for you not helping me with my problems."

"Hey, hey, hey. I didn't say I wasn't going to help you, only when the time comes where I can free them is when I'll help you. So why don't we just go over there and leave this conversation hanging for the moment? You know what, I'll even give you my sword here so I won't have a means to kill him," Kelvin offered as he grabbed a sword with a black sheath placed on it that was hidden in his coat and gestured it to her. She took the sword and held onto his left arm. Three seconds pass and they disappeared with the sound of a fwoom.

* * *

Aleister Crowley stares straight ahead and the young man with the Hawaiian shirt looks to the side as they see Kelvin and Musujime. Kelvin whispers to her, "Thanks, Awaki. I will definitely help out a friend in need; you just have to wait for my opportunity. GROUP and the Board of Directors, right…?" She smiles somewhat and nods to him.

He then walks up and bows. "Hello, my name is Kelvin Lei, and I am the second weakest level 5 in the city." A second passed and Kelvin curiously stared at Crowley. "Ah yes, just as I remembered. 'Looks like both an adult yet also a child, like a man yet also a woman, like a saint yet also a criminal'. Hmm, good times."

"Why did you bring the sixth strongest esper here, nya? You really expect him to work for you, nya?" the young man with the sunglasses asked.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Why am I being badmouthed by some random dude?" as the trench coat wearing teen rubs the backside of his head confused by the turn of events. "Oh wait; you're that Tsuchimikado Motoharu guy! Yes, the one that's a spy for everyone or something awesome like that." He proceeds to give a thumbs-up to the aloha shirt guy.

"Anyways," interjects the man in the tube, "Aside from the discussion of what professions that we all have, I would like to give you a proposition. It is t-"

"-Hey, you know who and what I am. There's no way I would ever work for somebody like you," interrupts Kelvin.

"He's right, y'know. The man is a revolutionary and he doesn't like leaders much-nya," Tsuchimikado added with a smile.

"I do realize the differences in our political affiliations, but I think that we could reach a compromise in this proposal," Crowley replied.

"Working for you or anybody else is not in my plans though. Screw you and you're proposal, I'm leaving. Awaki, let's go." She suddenly stood straight at the sound of her name while staring at the other three.

As Kelvin starts to turn and walk away, he raised his left hand to his mouth and bit his thumb towards Aleister. When the kid in the long coat were a few steps away from the teleporting girl, Aleister suddenly says, "We know where you're boss is." The teen stops in his steps as he turns around so then Crowley and Kelvin stares at each other. Tsuchimikado, a spectator that's now leaning against a wall, is surprised at the turn of events.

"Really…" He looks away for a moment disgruntled and looks back with determination, "Well then, what do I have to do to keep him alive?"

"All you have to do is listen to and accept my proposal, and then you'll be on your way," replies Aleister with a Cheshire Cat-like grin.

The kid thought hard for a few moments, "… Ok fine. I'll listen to you."

"Good, now I would like you to accept this proposal, too. You are to form a group for special optics. You are to follow the orders of me only and/or do something that benefits the well-being of Academy City itself. That is the simplest way to put this; also you are able to recruit any person you would like into your group. It doesn't matter if you're group has magicians or espers," the man in the tube explained.

For a few moments there was silence, and then Kelvin smirks saying, "Alright, then that means I get to look into every profile of each esper in this city, right?" As Aleister approved of the action Tsuchimikado's face seemed to have brightened at that point, too.

"Great, then I'll see you later about the orders. Right now I want to find all of my teammates. Well then, I bid you all adieu," Kelvin bows and turns back around to touch Awaki. Three awkward seconds pass and the two disappear.

Tsuchimikado then gets up and says, "Man, I just figured out that I could've left at any moment, nya."

* * *

"Well it's been about two hours since I've seen the hidden monarch and I'm still searching for people to use…" Kelvin sighed as he looked through the profiles of every esper in Academy City on a computer screen that takes up almost an entire wall. He left his trench coat on the chair. He had a long-sleeved shirt with an Asian dragon on it with baggy red and green pants. Kelvin's in a random lab that was prepared for him so he could research about the population of the city. Apparently the scientists that were doing other research there were kicked out and told to come back the next day.

"So what did you get as candidates-nya?" asked a familiar laid back voice. Tsuchimikado's leaning on a wall in the lab.

Kelvin then hands Tsuchimikado his list of potential members, "Well… I got these guys for now. They are: Juufiko Miho that has an invisibility power; Edasaki Banri with telepathy; Haruue Erii also has telepathy; Kinuhata Saiai that somehow is a weaker version of Accelerator; Nunotaba Shinobu who is a great actor; and Hamazura Shiage that is just a level zero. But I'm not exactly done looking at everybody yet."

The Hawaiian shirted guy looks through the list in a rather board way until he noticed an odd pattern. "Wait, why are all these guys levels 0 through 4? Wouldn't it be better for a covert unit to have stronger members-nya?" He raised his eyebrow expecting an answer.

"Well, it's not that I hate level 5s or anything, it's just that they are the ones that can't evolve. Level 5 is the level cap for basically all of us, so there is no need to actually consider those inconsiderate douchebags anyways. It's much more fun to watch your pets develop from babies to adults than to get one that's already an adult," Kelvin explains in a matter-of-fact way, "Oh yes, there aren't that many Level 5s in the first place… So yeah."

"I see what you mean. Well I'm tired now anyways and I've lost interest in your tasks, nya. See ya later!" Tsuchimikado says as he leaves Kelvin to his research. "Don't think that Aleister isn't going to screw you over. He probably has dozens of plans for you to die since you're one of the only good level 5s, nya."

"Aren't you a level 5? You don't hate yourself do you?" inquires teen wearing the sunglasses

"Not really, though I do resent myself for being a part of this. I mean it's only good if you're the top three or the weakest of the Level 5s. Now I don't like my spot of being sixth or being the second weakest. There's two reasons for that: It doesn't sound that powerful for the first one and there are too many syllables for the other. I mean I'd rather be the weakest than the second weakest Level 5. It rolls off of the tongue better. Also it's annoying how everybody expects mo-"

"-Yea, yea. I got it already. Well let's just say that I'm using him, too. We're going to see how far we've planned for each other's actions," replied the teen. Tsuchimikado stops and looks back at researching person.

"And another thing: Is that boss guy very important to you, enough so that you would work for the man that you hate-nya?"

"You could say that. He's a guy that I'll have to keep away from the Board of Directors," answered Kelvin.

"Alright then, I think you probably know this already but don't get yourself killed, nya." Tsuchimikado does leave this time around.

"Thanks, you too. Now then, back to finding more cannon fodder. Heh heh."

* * *

A/N: Oooh, what is Kelvin planning? What's up with his hypocritical attitude with Level 5s? Will this story actually make sense at the end? I'm also asking for good critiques, some ideas to this story, and maybe some things I could explain if any of this confuses you.


	3. A History Lesson

A/N: This is kind of an exposition chapter before anything happens. Just to get people up to date. And also this contains spoilers. So yeah...

* * *

**A History Lesson**

**"Language is the source of misunderstandings."**

**- Antoine de Saint-Exupery**

"Man that took a while," Kelvin relaxes as he walks through the streets of Academy City a few hours after midnight. "But I also had some extra time to do other stuff on that computer. Normally I wouldn't be able to access those kinds of files but, luckily, I got a freebee today…" The guy wasn't talking to anybody but himself. He seemed kind of lonely since there was no one for him to have conversations with. Suddenly, some drops of water fell onto his head. The level five looks up into the sky as the rain became heavier and more frequent. "Looks like I have to go home soon. Should've brought one of my hats with me… or a jacket that has a hood… Well, I'll just go and buy an umbrella to make up for it then." Kelvin starts to walk down the streets again under the lights provided by the lampposts and the moon.

At that moment, a shadow passed through the street behind him, so he couldn't see what was going on. Then more shadows started to move in the light. Figures swiftly went from lamppost, to trashcan, to mailbox, etc. The hidden shadows were following Kelvin.

"Hmm… I should probably remind myself about how this war started anyways," Kelvin smirks to himself, "It's World War III, so it's probably going to be in the history books and the students are going to be tested over this stuff. Might as well study up," he then stops walking and looks behind him, "You guys want to learn a history lesson?" Kelvin puts his left hand near his right hip; which was where a certain weapon of his was placed.

A single beat of a second passed and the figures slowly came out of their hiding places. A local gang had heard that a weak level 5 was walking in the middle of the night, so they decided to get rid of this esper. The gang consisted of ten males; they were dropouts that were probably given the rank of level 1s or 2s. They surround Kelvin in a circle and all of them had a smile on their faces as if they were wolves about to attack a wounded deer.

The level 5 draws out the sword that he kept hidden under his trench coat. The weapon was some sort of an Asian straight sword. The haft on the handle appeared to have short wings that pointed outwards. At the end of the handle was a pommel that was shaped like a crescent. But the sword seemed like it was crudely made since the blade itself was chipped and dull. "So children, shall we begin?"

* * *

Tsuchimikado, who is still wearing sunglasses in the night, is lying on a door outside of a certain dorm room. He looks to his right and smiles reminiscently to himself. "Ah Kami-yan, just how are you going to solve this problem... Oh well, I guess there's no helping it now." All of a sudden, sounds of steps clanking on a metal ceiling were heard. The Hawaiian shirted teen looked off into the direction of the parking lot for bikes when the clanking stopped. Then a teenage girl jumps onto the parapet as she stares menacingly at Tsuchimikado. The girl wore a long sleeved shirt with large green and brown horizontal stripes; there is also a hole in each sleeve for thumbs to go through. Along with that, she wore a long pair of jeans that went to her ankles. "Ah yes, welcome to my dorm. I'm glad you could attend your meeting, nya," Tsuchimikado reacted with a lame response.

"Who the hell are you and how'd you get my phone number?" The girl grabbed his collar, "Don't answer and you die."

Still smiling, the teen wearing the sunglasses answered, "The name is Motoharu Tsuchimikado and I know quite a lot of people, nya. So I'm not dead now, right? Well anyways I really want to talk to you about something, miss Miyazaki Amaterasu-yan."

"You realize I had to sneak out of my dorm to get to you. I see that Kelvin isn't here. You tricked me, damn bastard."

"Oh, what's with these harsh words-nya? I didn't exactly lie, though. All I said was that Kelvin was going to need you for something," Motoharu says as he rolls his eyes, "I assure you that that was no lie, nya."

She lets go of his collar and said, "Fine, what is this all about?"

"It's rather cold out so I'll tell you inside. Oh and don't worry about me pulling anything on you, I only have eyes for my little sis, nya," Tsuchimikado laughed as he opened the door and both of them went into his dorm room. "I'll get straight to the point: Kelvin needs an extra member in his group, nya." He snickered to himself when he said that final word.

"What the hell kind of group are you talking about?" Amaterasu demanded.

"It's a special optics team that will carry out the will of its creator, nya. So try to think of it like GROUP or ITEM, but much more secret."

"And who is this creator?"

"It's a certain someone that I won't be able to disclose without putting myself and my sister in danger. So please understand before threatening me, nya."

Amaterasu thought to herself for a few moments and then responded, "Why should I join? I don't really want to take part in something that would cause me danger…"

"But that's the fun part about life," retorted Tsuchimikado, "Without danger and survival life would be meaningless. Anyways, you shouldn't worry since a level 5 is going to be there to protect you, nya."

"No way, I will not work with that douche!"

"Didn't you want to settle a score with him-nya? He's beaten you in everything so far: cooking, tests and grades, fighting, and all that other fun stuff. I mean you guys do have a past of rivalry, or rather just you. He doesn't really mind you much and barely pays attention to you, nya." Amaterasu drooped down in embarrassment since he told her the truth of the matter. "My point is that you can always challenge him at any time. So you can always get a chance to finally defeat him, nya." She sat to herself, thinking about the possibilities. "You also get to travel around the world."

"I'll do it," Miyazaki replies immediately.

"Oh, that's good," the teen with the sunglasses was surprised at how easy it was to convince this girl. "Oh yes, I've been curious about this but what is your power-nya?"

"Hmm…?" Miyazaki raises an eyebrow and then responds with, "It's called 'Gravitation' and I'm a level 4."

* * *

Kelvin stands on the sidewalk with his sword over his shoulder. Broken bodies of thugs were littered around him. All of them were beaten badly but none of the injuries were fatal. Kelvin swings his sword a few times around himself and then sheathed his sword. The weapon was once more hidden again inside the long coat that he had.

"And that concludes our lesson," Kelvin happily said, "In review: A man named Fiamma of the Right from a group, God's Right Seat, managed to convince to Russia that Academy City was going to destroy the country. So in order to have a preemptive strike of sorts Russia declared war on the city. Y'know, like any rational country would. And this war in Russia is going to cause enough confusion so Fiamma of the Right can get a certain something without notice. I think that about sums it up. Well it was a good lesson with all of you, so as of now… Class dismissed!" Kelvin walks away while waving at the fallen with the back of his hand. "Oh Putin, I wonder where you are now…"

"Anyways, now that the rain has cleared up I guess I'll go home now," Kelvin said with a sigh. "Can't wait for tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: There's going to be a lot more characters soon... Sadly for me because it's kind of hard to keep track of every single person... So whatever


	4. Shakespeare Not In Love

A/N: I actually had this chapter entirely typed out already, but I was going to include more. It's been a long time since I've posted something, so here it is.

* * *

**Shakespeare (Not) In Love**

**"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.**"  
**- Aristotle**

A girl that was wearing a navy blue school uniform stepped out of her dorm room and briskly walks towards the entrance/exit of the dorm building. The girl has dark brown hair gathered into two buns and has her bangs covering most of her forehead. She sorts through her mailbox first, as she always does, before she heads off to school.

"Oh yay, there's one from Saten-san! I just can't wait to read this at school," she said as she hugged the letter from her one-sided crush. She looks through the rest of the mailbox and finds another letter. She looked at it with suspicious eyes as a scientist would carefully look at a new specimen. The letter was sealed with a crest; it looked like a circle that had a mathematical less-than symbol with a single line vertically going through it within it. "What's this?" the girl asked herself.

The girl opened the letter and read it while she walked to school. A group of girls ran past the girl while they waved towards her. "Hey, Jufuku Miho, you better start running or you'll be late for class. Sekishi Junior High is quite strict about late students."

"Oh, right. I'll be there, don't worry," the girl replied quietly.

"Alrighty then. See ya."

Jufuku Miho laid her eyes back onto to the mysterious letter. She stared at the letter and was surprised at what was written. "After school, huh? I guess there's some time for me to spare…" Her pace starts to quicken as she runs to her school, hoping that she wouldn't be late.

* * *

Kelvin walked alone in the shopping district as he wondered to himself about how he was going to speak at the meeting he arranged. While walking, passersby saw the boy that wore a long coat and had suspicious eyes on him.

"Hey, kid," a police officer was walking sternly towards Kelvin. "You should go to school, not play hooky. Who are you and what school are you from?" He inquired.

Kelvin noticed the many eyes that were set upon him and decided to disappear; with a sound of a fwoom the boy wearing the long coat was gone. Leaving the police officer and the many bystanders confused.

* * *

A blond teen wearing a scientist's general attire was in a brightly lit white room filled with many inventions and machines. Some of them were robots, weapons, knives, computers, and many other objects of technology. The teen seemed to be working on a new invention; she was heavily concentrated on it. It looked like she was fixing a trench coat, something that shouldn't be worked on so meticulously. That undivided attention led her to ignore the door on a certain side of the room opening, a figure entering, and then closing.

The person snuck up on the blond as she was working. The person was right behind her and started to lean on the scientist. The person then said, "Hey, Yoko Takahata!" as he hugged her from behind. The girl yelled in surprise and smacked the person on the head. "Ow… Anyways, how's life?"

"Disappointing, Cousin…" she said while she went back to the coat. Takahata had long blond and unkempt hair that reached to her elbows. Her figure was quite slim with B-cup breasts. She had blue eyes, a slender jaw, short eyelashes, and had a height close to four feet and three inches.

"Really, how so?" Kelvin asked.

"I do not but have the knowledge of the whereabouts of Kumi and her presence was but assumed to be here to aide me with thou's order. The mistress art such a sloth…" Yoko sighed.

The door that Kelvin entered from suddenly swung open and another blond teen that looked like the spitting image of Yoko but with short hair instead. "Hey, who're ya calling lazy?" The figure shouted at the entrance. "Is that how ya treat ya own twin sista behind her back? FYI, I wasn't off on my own just lazing around, I was actually gatherin' some info on people! Don't bad mouth me, ya b-" she was interrupted by the sound of a fwoom and Kelvin appeared right before her preparing to hug her. "Oh Hell no!" Kumi responded by dodging the hug and smacking him on the head.

"Ow… Anyways, did you calm down? I don't want to see family's fighting each other," Kelvin said as he rubbed his head.

Kumi sighed and reluctantly nodded to let the other two acknowledge her restored tranquility. "But before we go any more, whatcha want with the Architect and the Forger?"

"Always have that suspicious eye for me, eh? I just wanted to see how things were progressing," he lamely answered.

Yoko chimed in this time since she felt kind of left out, "I was just fixing thy coat. The Final Jian is goeth to retrieve much time because of 'tis maintenance. And the order that thou made yesterday shalt not be completed for a few days, so tis the status of our work."

"That's great, thanks for doing all this for me," Kelvin bowed in respect. The long coat wearing teen then notices a grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "Oh, this thing still hasn't been fixed yet?"

"Nay," Yoko sadly answered, "'tis difficult for unknowledgeable reasons. Tis to have some kind of mechanism that stopeth from worketh, but I cannot see what tis doing 't though."

"I can help if you want."

"You don't have to do that," both the twins said it at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment and sighed as if this event occurred a lot.

"Nah, it's alright. It's the least I can do since you decided to help me," the male said as he started towards the grandfather clock. The twins sighed in relief and thanked him for his willingness to help out. Yoko went back to the coat and Kumi helped her out on it. "Oh yea, have you guys considered my invitation yet?" he inquired while looking inside the clock.

Yoko replied, "As thee have spoke before, thou art our Cousin. Therefore we shalt aide thou in thy quest even though thou have never questioned us for such. But, we conversed with each other this time and decided that we wilt not travel with thou; we wilt aide thou from the shadows since I sense ill omens concerning this 'League'."

"Yea, that's fine. I'm also kind of skeptical about it, since it's a secret group. I was going to ask you to do the same anyways."

"So it's cool now, right? Aight," Kumi said happily. Their conversation went on and on until the time came to be after school. Kelvin decided it was time to leave to attend the meeting that he had arranged. They said their goodbyes to each other and Kelvin immediately disappeared after a sound of teleportation.

"Oh yea. How many peeps did he get the invite to?"

"Methinks if tis the Cousin we have knowledge of, then he has but drawn about fifty some."

* * *

A/N: Differentiating every single person's voice from each other is insane! If you're going to make up a story, make sure that there are under ten important characters... Well, I'm screwed.


	5. All Guts, No Glory

A/N: This took such a long time to do because I forgot to plan this part out. But whatever, I think I'm back on track with my plans... Actually, not yet. I still have a few more things to do before things go my way.

* * *

**All Guts, No Glory  
**

**"Sanity is a madness put to good use."**  
** - George Santayana**

"Is this the place, hehehe?" a brown haired teen asked himself as he looked at a fancy hotel that gave the impression of being a part of the Italian variety. The teen was a first-year in high school, but was rather skinny and had average height. He wore black jeans, a black shirt including drawings of all kinds of music over it, with a blue and black striped jacket. He also wore a pair of wireless headphones that were hanging on his neck.

"Well, I sure hope so," said a somewhat low voice. The former person turned his head around and saw another kid the same age as him wearing a trench coat. The teen felt jealous of the coated man since he was a bit taller. "Come on, we shouldn't be late for such an event as this" The long coated man said as he grabbed the brown haired teen's arm and dragged him to the hotel.

"Hey! Don't grab onto me like that! Hehehe," the teen exclaimed but the other didn't seem to hear it or decided not to listen.

* * *

In a certain hotel room (A/N: I can't seem to remember what the name for it was, but it's one of those rooms that people rent at a hotel for a party or something), a party was held with shining chandeliers probably made out of zirconium and three round wooden tables with a snow white sheets on top. There was a rectangular table with quiche, crab, teriyaki, and steak (A/N: and other fancy foods that I didn't really care to put down). Some jazz music was playing in the background through a boom box, making the scene seem a little unfitting.

"…The party planner didn't expect many people to come," Jufuku Miho whispered quietly to herself.

"Who turned out to be right anyways since there are only ten people here," replied a girl that wore a long sleeved shirt with large green and brown horizontal stripes; there is also a hole in each sleeve for thumbs to go through. Additionally, she wore a long pair of jeans that went to her ankles. The girl lifted her arm around the room towards the small amount of guests as if she was a butler welcoming new visitors to a hotel.

"…Who are you?" Jufuku inquired silently.

"Oh yeah, the name's Amaterasu Miyazaki; Level 4, by the way. Et tu, Brute?" Jufuku noticed that the girl's eyes were of a golden yellow.

Certain that the French phrase was used incorrectly she answered, "… I'm Jufuku Miho; a level 2…" The shy girl was obviously embarrassed.

"Really, so what kind of power do you have?"

"…Dummy Check…"

"Wow, that's one of the least threatening names that I've ever heard." The two girls looked at each other; it seemed that Miyazaki forgot to interrogate the shy girl further.

"…It's to become invisible to the naked eye…"

"Oh, right," Miyazaki put her palm to her face since she forgot to continue the conversation. But she did seem somewhat glad that Miho carried on the conversation on her own. "So that means I'll be able to see you if I wore contacts or saw you through something that isn't just my eyes. Like, even if you do use your powers?"

Surprised at how quickly the Miyazaki found Jufuku's weakness so quickly, she became rather speechless.

"Right on the money, huh? Anyways, did you get the invitation?" Miyazaki asked with a half-assed smile on her face.

Jufuku was still for a moment because of the previous shock and the confusion caused by her next question. Then figuring out what the taller girl meant, Miho reached into her pockets searching for something. She pulled out her hand that was accompanied with an envelope and held it in front of Amaterasu as if she was showing a VIP pass to a security guard at a rock concert. "…Is this what you're talking about?"

"Yes, thank you," Amaterasu half-heartedly responded while fiercely examining the envelope. Jufuku felt a few butterflies in her stomach as she looked at the mail so intensively. For a second there, it seemed like the envelope cringed from the staring, too. "Hmm, odd. There's a seal on here; it kind of looks like some kind of a K in a circle." She took the envelope out of Miho's hands and turned it from its upright position about ninety degrees clockwise. The seal now appeared to be an A within a circle instead. "Heh, that's funny. I never knew he believed in that."

Miho raised her eyebrow, confused and asked, "…You never knew what?"

"That the person who sent this to you is a bomb-throwing terrorist," she said with a smile on her face as she handed the envelope back to a shocked Miho. "Don't worry; I'm sure he hasn't bombed anyone yet." The reassurance didn't quell the new fears that Miho had.

Suddenly, the feedback of a microphone was made and everyone looked to the stage. After the sound of someone teleporting, a male wearing a trench coat appeared on the stage. He had short black hair that looked like it was combed by a pillow with slanted eyes and a round nose. His eyes brightly showed a scarlet red as he began to speak.

On the other side of the room, two boys were conversing with each other. One wore a long coat and the other a pair of definitive headphones. The one that appeared to be endowed with music was a bit more reserved and shy than the other.

"So, what do you think of this 'party' so far?" asked the man in the trench coat. "I hope the Level 5 guy really comes."

"It's pretty bland, hehe. There isn't really much to do but to chat and eat here, hehehe."

"That's not very nice. But this is what formal parties consist of," the teen thought to himself that the musical teen must not go out much into society.

"Even so, the party's boring. I'm just here to see whether or not I can become a part of this program."

"Oh, really? Who are you? I must know," the man with the coat asked.

"My name is Akira Ito, no one of consequence, hehehe."

The other laughed, "Well then, what do you think of the person who's hosting this event?"

"He's probably some asshole who thinks he's better than everyone, hehe," Akira said with a shrug.

"Oh, so you got some plans to give him a hard time, right?" The coated man raised one eyebrow playfully.

"That's plan B, but plan A was hooking up with someone … which was spoiled because a certain odd person derailed it, hehe," Akira looked at the other teen as if he wasn't expecting the other to understand his joke.

"Well, we have a problem with plan B."

"Why's that?"

"Watch…" The coated man smiled as he ran up to the stage.

"Hello, hello. Welcome to this hotel, which I've forgotten the name for, and allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kelvin Lei and I am the second weakest Level 5 in the city." Akira was clearly dumbfounded and surprised over the turn of events and seemed to immediately regret what he said. "I will say that as of now you can leave at anytime that you want. Anyways, I'm sorry for such short notice, but I have gathered you all here today because you are all potential participants in a Level-Up program. Well, you've probably already read that in the letter I have sent all of you. So-"

"Just how are we going to level up? Don't tell me we have to get comas again for temporarily better skills?" The brown haired teen asked in the crowd of ten while silently chuckling to himself.

"Ha, ha. I assure you that you will not be involved in anymore events such as the Level Upper Incident. Initiation phases are completely safe, well as safe as they can be. And just to put all of your fears in place, I will also go through the program with you." The man on the stage responded. After hearing this, three people left the room in fear of their own health.

"But what's the answer to the first question?" Someone yelled out.

"You all will go through intensive training to reach higher levels, mentally and physically." Two more people walked out of the room at this point. Both of them were complaining about how working hard is such a hassle. Amaterasu Miyazaki, Jufuku Miho, the brown haired teen, and two girls were left in the audience; one in a wheelchair and the other being an escort.

"Hmm, tough crowd. A nice thing about this course is that you'll get to travel far away into other countries and the like." Kelvin smiled a bit over the deluding numbers.

"Isn't the outside dangerous?" The voice came from the unnamed girl in the wheelchair. She was a young girl with shoulder-length brown hair swept back by a yellow hairband.

"Do you really plan to stay in this city forever?" He responded. "I think that people should definitely visit places far away from home and try to experience authentic things there instead of getting second-hand experiences here." This time nobody left the room.

"Oh, that's more than I expected," Kelvin shrugged as he pulled out some small and clear sheets of paper in his pocket. "Then for those who remain, you will get these tickets to go to where our next meeting will be held," the coated teen said as he handed the tickets to the five others. "The meeting will not accept any late attendees, so if you can't make it on time. Then that'll be too bad." When he gave one to Miyazaki he smirked a little. "There are no entries fees or any hidden costs or whatever. In fact, you will get payment for participating in the program."

"Wait, these tickets are blank," the girl in the wheelchair said as she examined the clear sheet of paper.

"It's a special kind of material. When the time to attend the meeting grows near, the letters and such on the ticket will become more apparent. Why don't you guys look at it again." Suddenly lines faintly appeared on the tickets. The group was surprised at the pieces of technology they were holding. "However, you must be careful since the tickets will only show a set amount."

"Then how would we know where to go-nano?" The girl that was helping the person in the wheelchair asked. She was also a young girl who had neck-length brown hair with a few strands off to the side; the strands were tied together by a pink band.

"Ha, ha. Figure it out." Kelvin smiled as he disappeared after the sound of a fwoom.

Everybody looked at each other in disbelief. "…How are we supposed to know where the meeting is if we're only given a part of the map…?" Nobody responded after the moment of confusion. Then without anything more to say they all left.

The two girls looked at each other and smiled, as if communicating with their minds, when they left the room. "Banri-chan, let's go back to the hospital-nano."

"Yea. Now I'm kind of tired, Eri. Think you can stay with me?"

Miyazaki looked at her ticket and saw nothing on it. "He knew I wasn't invited. Clever Kelvin, but you can't kick me out just yet." Amaterasu gave a sly smile when she walked away from the building.

* * *

Somewhere else in a certain heavily guarded prison, a girl with black, frizzy hair slept at her cell in the terribly comfortable beds that was provided to her. A guard was also sleeping, rather loudly, on his chair in a room outside of the row of prisons cells. A clog of footsteps started to sound and a teen that was wearing a trench coat walked towards the guard of that sector of cells. The sleeping man's body made the correct decision to wake up at that point, however the body reacted in a rather violent kind of way; the guard fell off of his chair. "Huh? Oh, h-hi there. I was j-j-just resting my eyes! No p-p-problems here!"

"I'm not here to question your work ethic," Kelvin laughed. He pulled out a picture of a girl with frizzy hair and a scary looking face, "I'm just looking for this lady here. Her name is Nunotaba Shinobu."

"Oh, s-she's the last one o-on the l-left." The guard pointed down the hall where the chambers were located. Kelvin half-heartedly thanked the man.

He walked towards the row of convicted criminals in a chillingly calm fashion, even though some of the prisoners were still making odd noises and actions in the middle of the night. At the last part of the corridor he turned towards the cell which housed the woman he was searching for. Instead of sleeping, she was sitting on a stiff and plastic chair as if waiting for a visitor to come. Her head was down so Kelvin couldn't see her face and her hair gave no indication of her looks either.

"Hello, Miss Shinobu. My name is Kelvin, it is very nice to meet you." He extended his hand through the bars.

"What does a lame Level 5 want with me?"

"Well that's not nice," Kelvin shrugged. "I just wanted to know if you were willing to take an opportunity to free yourself from this oppressive life."

She looked up to finally communicate with him. Her eyes were large yet the pupils were small; creating an image of an insane person. "What did you just say?"

Kelvin scolded playfully, "It's not nice to divide your attention away from a conversation you're having. But anyway, do you want to get out of this place?"

"If you're talking about leaving this prison so then I can return to my normal life, then yes."

"Oh, but your life wasn't normal anyways. Dealing with 20,000 clones was quite the hassle wasn't it?" Kelvin said with an amused look on his face as she reacted almost immediately to his question. "I mean seriously, having to deal with raising all of these pieces of trash just so then they would be thrown away again. That'd be so annoying. What kind of person would want to look after trash that didn't even have feelings in the first place? I mean they're there for a few minutes and the next they become useless, decaying trash waiting to be recycled. I see, so that's why you were arrested. You wanted to be rid of these pieces of crap and decided the best way to do so was to make yourself look like a traitor so then you wouldn't have to deal with them anymore."

"You're wrong, I would never think that! They all have their own lives that they could have lived. They would have become real people … but I couldn't save them, even when I met with the original, even when I hacked the system and implanted feelings into them. They were just kids…" A single tear came down the face of the insane looking woman.

Kelvin looked at her with sympathy and told her, "Well, here's some good news that I think you weren't told since you came here: The Level 6 Experiment has stopped."

She got off of her chair and grabbed still-extended hand, "What do you mean? If you give me an answer I don't like I'll break your arm."

Kelvin smirked to himself. "Oh, I thought you actually did research about me. But I guess not and you'll probably land yourself in a worse place than this if you injure me." Nunotaba separated her hands from his arm at the moment she realized her threat was somewhat empty. "The Level 6 Experiment has been stopped with ninety-nine hundred seventy-eight sisters still remaining. They are alive and well and living their lives." With those words her figure relaxed a bit and she sat back down on her chair. "You know, they were saved by some Level 0; he even managed to beat the strongest esper alive. Now that's something. Hah, ha… Even though they were the reason you are in this hell, you still care for them. That's very nice."

"You don't understand the situation at all. I'm glad that they were able to be saved and it was my own decision to act as I did. However, I do not think that you were here just so then you would tell me some news that has been long past."

"You already expressed desire to go outside again. The room even says so." They both looked around her prison cell: It was clean and it looked like an occasionally used cell. "The reason why everything here is so tidy and neat is that you didn't expect to be here long. You're trying to get out of here by getting enough credits, but the fact is that prisons do not give early discharges. The scratch markings are shallow and very new, meaning that you're losing hope. You wanted to go outside, that's why your chair is near the bars; to see the window that showed the sunlight. The markings on the sink, there is a single one that's written in your own blood. Since it looks like something resembling lightning, it seems you want to meet them again."

There was barely any reaction on her part. "So what?"

"You wanted people like me to notice that bloody sign. Well I did, so you tell me what happens next?"

The crazy looking girl didn't say anything for a while.

"Looks like you have some new things to think about. So while you're here doing whatever it is that you do here," Kelvin pulled out a yellow envelope, "I would like to invite you to join something called the Gentlefolk's' initiative." The coated man turned around and started to walk towards the exit when the prisoner in the cell next to Nunotaba spat at and missed Kelvin.

"Wait!" Kelvin walked backwards onto the side of a wall so the other prisoner couldn't aim at him again. "I'll do it."

"Hmm? Already, you haven't even looked at the files."

"I will do anything to get out of here and see them again."

"Even if I'm just leading you into another trap?"

"A Level 5 esper wouldn't go out of his way just to do this."

"Well then," Kelvin snickered to himself, "let's see how far we go."

He turned back around and started towards the exit when the girl's voice was heard again, "Wait, aren't you getting me out of here?" His footsteps haven't stopped as if he didn't hear her.

Without looking back Kelvin responded, "Pack up your things, you're leaving tomorrow. I think you're going to need some time to say goodbye." Without another word the footsteps stopped and Shinobu tried to angle her head to see down the hallway; the man that spoke to her left no trace of his presence behind.

* * *

A/N: Yeah... I had a lot of difficulty putting in the Japanese honorifics. Kind of makes me cringe, I guess it's fine if I don't use it too often.


End file.
